The most recent conclusions on the causation of dental caries are expressed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,659,561. These envisage that the initial breach in the tooth enamel, which is the tooths protective surface, is made by acid forming bacteria. Once the enamel is damaged, many other bacteria can further attack and erode the dentine. But while the enamel is intact, bacteria other than acid forming bacteria do not cause cavities. There are many types of bacteria which form acid including Streptococcus mutans, strains of Lactobacillus and others.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,659,561, teaches that studies of newly cleaned teeth and newly erupted teeth of infants show they are first colonised by bacteria known as Streptococcus Sanguis. And it is only after initial attachment of the S. Sanguis cells to sites on the salivary pellicle, and their proliferation there, that a secondary colonisation by S. Mutans and other bacterial species takes place by attachment of cells thereof to receptor sites on the S. Sanguis cells. And further, that if the initial attachment of the S. Sanguis organisms can be prevented, the attachment of S. Mutans, which is an acid forming bacteria, and other dental caries producing organisms, would be inhibited or substantially reduced. That patent suggests treatments to reduce the attachment of S. Sanguis bacteria to the teeth by use of a vaccine to elicit antibodies in the saliva and other means such as fibrial antigens.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,891,210 teaches the use of bacteriophages, which can attack and destroy specific bacteria to reduce or eliminate the acid forming bacteria which initiate dental caries. This treatment would require inserting into the oral cavity, at repeated intervals, a mixture of phages; (bacteriophages will henceforth be abbreviated to phages) such mixture containing phages which are parasitic to most, if not all, acid forming bacteria which can be found in oral cavities. This is a practical method because although the number of types of phages needed may be many, the bacteria and phages for each bacteria are known and can be obtained from commercial companies such as the American Type Culture Collection of Rockville, Maryland. And once the host bacteria and the respective phage have been obtained, propogation of phages in immense numbers is both practical and inexpensive.